Philippa Kaur

CHELSEA manager Enzo Maresca enraged fans with his post-match statement after his team’s miserable FA Cup elimination.The Blues suffered another heartbreaking cup exit on Saturday after a 2-1 loss to Brighton, who came from behind at the Amex Stadium.Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca sparked fury within the fansCredit: GettyChelsea fans slammed Maresca after another cup eliminationCredit: GettyThe West Londoners opened the scoring with an own-goal by the Seagulls’ goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen but equalised with Georginio Rutter and turned the game on its head with Kaoru Mitoma.Chelsea were knocked out in the fourth round of the FA Cup, which marks another early exit after their premature elimination in the Last 16 of the Carabao Cup to Newcastle in October.This comes amid a poor run in the Premier League as well with Maresca’s billion-pound side winning only two out of their last eight matches, of which they lost three, which puts their top-four hopes in peril.Chelsea’s disappointing run has left fans frustrated and the Italian tactician’s post-match comments didn’t make things better as he tried to present a silver lining.Read More on ChelseaThe ex-Leicester boss suggested they could all take comfort in the fact they can still win the Conference League and finish top four in the Prem.Maresca said after the match: “Being out of the FA Cup, it’s a shame. No doubt.”If there is something positive, we can be focused on the Premier League and the Conference League. Hopefully we can continue our journey there.”That didn’t sit well with fans who stormed social media, where some even suggested that was a “fireable” statement.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITSOne fan tweeted: “I don’t hate Maresca but that is a fireable statement for a Chelsea manager.”That Chelsea supporter posted: “Another gem, ‘If there is something good after losing a leg, it is that we can focus on being really excellent at hopping’.”Cole Palmer shows off his goal scoring skills at Chelsea Training A third commented: “Imagine [Jose] Mourinho, [Antonio] Conte or [Thomas] Tuchel saying something like this.”This fan wrote: “This isn’t what Chelsea is about. Small club mentality drilled in from the top to the bottom and it shows on the pitch.”That one said: “Flexing the Conference League? We’ve fallen off so much.”And a sixth stated: “Sometimes it’s better to say ‘no comment’ or you get yourself sentenced. Ridiculous s**t to say this is Chelsea at least by name not by actions.”Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League table with two points ahead of defending champions Manchester City, who are fifth.The Blues also pose as favourites to win the Conference League after topping the league phase and making it straight into the Last 16 by winning all of their six matches.Chelsea ratings vs Brighton as pantomime villain Cucurella can hold head high but Nkunku has a shockerBRIGHTON came from behind to dump Chelsea out of the FA Cup with Kaoru Mitoma’s perfectly placed chip securing a 2-1 win for the Seagulls at the Amex stadium.But how did Chelsea’s players fare? Who was the biggest let down and who was the best of the worst? Check out SunSport’s player ratings…Robert Sanchez – 5/10Back in the side after being dropped by Enzo Maresca after a number of errors this season. The Spaniard looked shaky on the ball at the start of the game but seemed to brush off his nerves as the match developed.Nothing he could do about Brighton’s opener with Georginio Rutter’s perfectly placed header flying past him.Perhaps a little slow off his line for Brighton’s winner, but take nothing away from Kaoru Mitoma’s perfectly executed chip.Malo Gusto – 5Worked tirelessly charging up and down the right flank for Chelsea, but failed to have much joy going forward or defensively.Struggled to deal with the dangerous Mitoma throughout the game, and was caught napping out of position for the Japanese forwards winner.Tosin Adarabioyo – 5Alongside Trevoh Chalobah, was guilty of allowing Georginio Rutter to drift into space to fire home Brighton’s early equaliser.Played some confident passes at times, but also looked like a walking mistake on the ball at times. Was caught in possession on the halfway line by Georginio Rutter which almost led to a Brighton goal.Trevoh Chalobah  – 6Equally as responsible for Brighton’s opening goal alongside his centre back partner, allowing Rutter a free header in the box.Was more composed on the ball than his Tosin throughout the game, however, and already looks like Chelsea’s best centre back after being recalled from loan.Marc Cucurella – 6The pantomime villain of the evening at the Amex stadium, with Brighton fans spending the full 90 minutes booing their ex player everytime he got a hold of the ball.Was solid throughout the game, although failed to have the attacking impact that he has had for Chelsea in recent games.Moises Caicedo – 6Looked to be running a one man midfield before Enzo Fernandez was introduced in the second half.Worked tirelessly but was clearly frustrated with his sides efforts, putting in a couple of nasty tackles which led to him being booked.Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 4A rare start for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at Chelsea this season, and in truth, he failed to take advantage.A very poor challenge early on saw the Englishman booked, and he failed to have any impact on his side going forward or defensively in the first half.Was substituted fifteen minutes into the second half for Enzo Fernandez in the wake of Brighton’s second goal.Pedro Neto – 5An injury concern midway through the first half, which in truth he never quite looked to shake off.Looked confident he had the better of Tariq Lamptey, often beating his fullback. His final ball, however, was sorely lacking throughout the match, with a number of crosses flying over everyoneCole Palmer – 6Played his part in Chelsea’s opener with a first time cross into the box – although it’s difficult to mark that goal down as anything other than a Bart Verbruggen howler.Looked like he was missing his regular attacking partner Nicholas Jackson, with a clear lack of connection with the Frenchman Christopher Nkunku up top.Jadon Sancho – 5Looked uninterested for large parts of the first half, and failed to close down Joel Veltman who whipped in the cross for Brighton’s opener.He picked up in the second half with some direct dribbling, although never managed to find the final ball.Christopher Nkunku – 2It’s hard not to feel sorry for Nkunku, with the forward looking completely lost in Enzo Maresca’s system.It genuinely seemed like he wasn’t on the pitch at times, with the Frenchman missing in action for large parts of the game.The one clear chance he had running through on goal, he bizarrely elected to cross the ball rather than have an effort himself.SUBS:Enzo Fernandez (Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, 59) – 7Brought an air of control to Chelsea’s midfield which was sorely lacking before. Played a few nice passes with the short time he had on the pitch.Nothing came of his efforts, although perhaps the result would have been different for Chelsea had he started the game.Tyrique George (Jadon Sancho, 73) – 5Spurned a great opportunity over the bar, and other than that failed to have any impact. More